ASDA TURNS AROUND TO NET $282 MILLION

LONDON (FNS) -- ASDA Group here said it continued to outperform the U.K. food retail industry with an after-tax profit of $282.19 million (178.6 million pounds) on an 8.2% rise in sales to $8.35 billion for the year ended April 29.This compares with after-tax losses of $279.49 million on sales of $7.71 billion the previous year.The loss resulted from exceptional items related to property writedowns.

LONDON (FNS) -- ASDA Group here said it continued to outperform the U.K. food retail industry with an after-tax profit of $282.19 million (178.6 million pounds) on an 8.2% rise in sales to $8.35 billion for the year ended April 29.

This compares with after-tax losses of $279.49 million on sales of $7.71 billion the previous year.

The loss resulted from exceptional items related to property writedowns. Earnings per share before exceptional items rose 35.3% to 9.32 cents from